Shipping container with removable environmental control unit

ABSTRACT

The combination of a shipping container and a portable environmental control cartridge unit is disclosed. The container has external walls and access doors to a storage space which includes a compartment therein having an access opening in the external walls different from the access doors to the storage space. The compartment is in air or gas communication with the storage space but has no access for the removal or placement of goods between the compartment and the storage space. The portable environmental control cartridge unit is removably positioned in the compartment being insertable and removable from the compartment through the access opening.

Aug. 6, 1974 United States Patent [191 Beaudet I SHIPPING CONTAINER WITH Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fetherstonhaugh & Co.

[75] Inventor: Maurice Beaudet, St. Philippe de La Prairie, Quebec, Canada Assignee: Gait Equipment Ltd., Quebec,

[57] ABSTRACT The combination of a shipping container and a porta- Canada [22} Fil d; N v, 28, 1972 ble environmental control cartridge unit is disclosed.

The container has external walls and access doors to a Related US. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. l26,l l4, March 19, 1971.

Appl. N0.: 309,

storage space which includes a compartment therein having an access opening in the external walls different from the access doors to the storage space. The

compartment is in air or gas communication with the storage space but has no access for the removal or placement of goods between the compartment and the storage space. The portable environmental control cartridge unit is removably positioned in the compart- [58] Field of Search................................

ment being insertable and removable from the compartment through the access opening.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2.223.581 12/1940 Stebbins................................ l65/42 PATENIEUMJB 61w 3,827. 478

sum aur 4 SHIPPING CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL UNIT CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 126,114, filed Mar. l9, i971.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shipping containers commonly used for transport of cargo by truck, rail, plane or ship. Such containers are commonly of a standardized type designed for repeated use in the shipment of various different commodities. In this application, the term containers may include van, road truck body, rail box car or other type of closed shipping vehicle used for the shipment and storage of goods and materials. The container generally has at least one door or a means of sealing. This latter means need not seal hermetically but is generally weatherproof. One of the many advantages of standardized type containers is that they may be used time and again for many different types of commodities and in one trip a container may be used for shipping vegetables and the next trip the container may be used for shipping rolls of paper or some other consumer product. Because of this requirement for interchangeability of commodities, it would be very advantageous for the container to have removable cartridge units to control the environment inside the container, so that when it carries food stuffs the temperature or humidity may be controlled. Alternatively the pressure inside the container may also be controlled or indeed if fresh vegetables are to be shipped, they may be maintained in an inert gas atmosphere. If aluminum is shipped in a container, then it is preferable to use a dehumidifier to keep the atmosphere dry inside the container. Moisture tends to oxidize the outside surface of aluminum. In each case the same container may be used with different types of cartridge units to control the environment inside the container.

The control of the environment inside the container may best be achieved by a cartridge unit which is completely independent from any transportation unit. Thus if the container started off by being shipped by road transport and was then transferred to rail or ship transport the environment inside the container and the cartridge unit controlling that environment would not be effected. Furthermore, if the container were stored for a short time on a dock, in a warehouse or outside, there would still be no necessity to worry about external power sources to feed the cartridge unit controlling the environment in the container. If desired the self contained cartridge unit may be replaced with a unit having connections to an external power source. This allows the container to be loaded into a non vented area, such as the hold of a ship, without concern of exhaust fumes which are emitted from some of the self contained units.

Thus a need has arisen for providing a selfcontained environmental control cartridge unit having no external power supply which may be directly associated with a particular container but is also interchangeable such that a cartridge unit for controlling the temperature may be substituted for a cartridge unit for controlling the humidity or a cartridge unit for controlling the presenvironmental control cartridge unit which may be quickly and easily installed in a shipping container from the outside of the container without disturbing the contents therein.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-contained, environmental control cartridge unit for a container which may be installed and removed easily from the container without opening the storage area of the container, the cartridge unit circulating the air or gas in an air space inside the container. The air space generally exists in most containers around the walls, floor and ceiling to prevent the cargo being in direct contact with the walls.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features which may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference designate like parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a shipping container with the environmental control cartridge unit of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an environmental control cartridge unit.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cartridge unit shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the environmental control cartridge unit shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, in FIG. 1 the general reference numeral 10 designates a conventional standard shipping container which is provided at one end thereof with loading doors 11. The container walls and floor being provided at the inside thereof with sets of mutually spaced ridges or reinforcing members 12, 12a, 12b in the conventional manner.

In accordance with the invention a portable environmental control cartridge unit 13 is removably inserted in the container 10 so that the environment inside the container may be controlled during shipping or storage. The cartridge unit 13 is removably inserted in a compartment 14 the latter being formed by providing a right angular shaped partition plate 15 in the lower end portion of the container remote from the doors 11. The partition plate 15 includes a vertical wall 15a which extends across the ridges or reinforcing members 12b on the bottom 16 of the container, and the horizontal wall 15b which extends across the ridges or reinforcing members 12a on the end wall 17 of the container 10. The partition plate 15 spans the full width of the container 10 between the side walls 18, 19 and due to the spaces between the reinforcing members 12a and 12b the compartment 14 is in air communication with the rest of the container interior referred to as the storage space. The compartment 14 has an access opening in the container side wall 18 through which opening the environmental control cartridge unit 13 may be slidably inserted in or removed from the compartment 14. The cartridge unit 13 is provided at one end thereof with a plate 20 which closes the access opening in the container side wall 18 when the cartridge unit 13 is inserted in the compartment 14.

As will be apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4, the cartridge unit 13 includes a housing 21 which is of such a size and shape as to occupy the entire compartment 14 when it is slidably inserted thereinto. The housing 21 includes a back wall 22 and a bottom wall 23. The back wall being provided with an inlet slot or opening 24 so that when the cartridge is inserted in the compartment 14 and the housing back wall 22 is disposed against the reinforcing members 12a on the container end wall 17 air or gas from the storage space of the container may flow through the spaces between the reinforcing members 12a as shown in FIG. 1 and through the inlet opening 241 into the housing 21. Similarly, the bottom wall 23 of the housing 21 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided with an outlet opening 27 so that air or gas which is circulated through the cartridge unit 13 into the storage space may be discharged through the opening and through spaces between the reinforcing members 12b into the storage space of the container. In this manner the air or gas inside the storage space is circulated through the cartridge unit 13 and is controlled thereby so that the contents in the storage space of the container may be kept within limits required. The front plate of the cartridge unit I3 is shown in FIG. 3. In a typical unit, the front plate 20 has a door panel 30 with a latch 31. The cartridge unit 13 is slid into the compartment 14 and fastened in position by the latches 32.

One such environmental control cartridge unit is the temperature conditioning unit'described and claimed in my co-pending application, Ser. No. l26 ,l l4, filed Mar. 19,1971. This unit as described in the application is self-contained, and designed to heat the atmosphere within the storage space of the container by circulating the air therein and heating the air as it passes through the cartridge unit. If the temperature inside the storage space becomes too high the cartridge unit draws in cold air from the outside to mix with the air in the storage space. If it is necessary to have the container sealed and inert gas or some other gas inside the container, then the environmental control cartridge unit is so designed that no air is drawn into the storage space from the outside. The cartridge unit shown in my co-pending application takes up all the space in the compartment 14. This is generally preferred when air circulation is required, however when no air circulation is necessary, the cartridge unit need not take up all the space in the compartment 14.

The environmental control cartridge units may be removed and replaced at any time and without interfering with the cargo in the storage space of the container, and furthermore if the cargo is bonded and sealed, there is no access from the compartment holding the cartridge into the storage space. Therefore customs inspections would still allow a cartridge unit to be replaced without interfering with the cargo. In practice if a container is to be shipped from a cold climate to a hot climate and requires to have the environment inside the container controlled to a certain temperature it may be necessary to replace a heating cartridge unit with a cooling cartridge unit at some point during the shipping stage. This is easily done at some point along the journey. Generally speaking a heating or cooling cartridge unit is installed in the container for transportation by road or rail or if the container is used for storage purposes. However when part of the journey involves transfer of the container to a ship, the cartridge units may be removed and returned to the start of their journey in which case several cartridge units may be placed inside an empty container for ease of shipping. The container preferably has a fold away door which fits over the access opening to the compartment 14 when the cartridge unit 13 is not fitted to the container. This door or flap is preferably kept with the container at all times.

Another advantage of the present type of cartridge units is that rather than service or maintain them while installed in the containers it is a very simple matter to remove the cartridge unit and insert a replacement cartridge unit. Thus there is no time lost in maintaining the cartridge unit while it is attached to the container. All maintenance and servicing of the cartridge units may occur when they are not installed in a container.

Where a part of the journey involves transfer of the container to a ship, a heating or cooling cartridge unit might not be necessary inasmuch as the temperature in the hold of the ship may be maintained at a uniform level by the outside water or by heating or cooling sources within the ship. However, if the journey should originate for example, in a hot climate, the cooling cartridge unit could be installed and withdrawn when the container is about to be lowered into the hold of the ship. If the journey is to a cold climate a heating cartridge unit could be installed as soon as the container is lifted out of the hold and would remain until the container reaches its destination. The sequence of course could be reversed if the journey were from a cold to a hot climate. If a cartridge unit is required for the container when it is stored in the hold of a ship or in some other area which is unventilated, then another cartridge unit having an external power supply is installed. Such a unit preferably has a power cable or hose to the external power source.

Generally speaking, heating cartridge units would be required only in cold parts of the world and cooling cartridge units in the tropics. Thus in between the two either heating or cooling cartridge units installed at the start of the journey would not be required at the destination. Accordingly, several cartridge units removed from several containers may be packed in one empty container and shipped back to a port where they would be required to be used again. This can be done at very little expense and avoids the storage of a large number of cartridge units at one end or another of the ships voyage and overhead is thus greatly reduced.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

l. The combination of a shipping container having opposed external side walls, a floor, a ceiling, external end walls at opposite ends, and an access door to a storage space, a compartment in the storage space extending between the side walls from one to the other and located in one corner formed by one end wall and the said floor, the compartment having an access opening in each said side wall, means for placing the interior of the compartment into gaseous communication with the storage space of the container but having no access for direct movement of goods between the compartment and the storage area, said means comprising a first reinforcing members which together with a partition juxtaposed to the inside walls co-act therewith to define said compartment, said partition extending across the reinforcing members and spaces between the reinforcing members providing said first and second spaces for communicating the compartment with the storage space of the container.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the cartridge unit is self-contained and requires no external power supply. 

1. The combination of a shipping container having opposed external side walls, a floor, a ceiling, external end walls at opposite ends, and an access door to a storage space, a compartment in the storage space extending between the side walls from one to the other and located in one corner formed by one end wall and the said floor, the compartment having an access opening in each said side wall, means for placing the interior of the compartment into gaseous communication with the storage space of the container but having no access for direct movement of goods between the compartment and the storage area, said means comprising a first space between the compartment and the said end wall permitting gas to pass from the compartment to the storage area and a second space between the compartment and the floor permitting gases to pass from the storage space to the compartment, and including a portable environmental control cartridge unit removably positioned entirely in said compartment, said cartridge unit being insertable and removable from said compartment through one of the access openings in one of said side walls.
 2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the storage space of the container has mutually spaced reinforcing members which together with a partition juxtaposed to the inside walls co-act therewith to define said compartment, said partition extending across the reinforcing members and spaces between the reinforcing members providing said first and second spaces for communicating the compartment with the storage space of the container.
 3. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the cartridge unit is self-contained and requires no external power supply. 